


Red Reed

by yuuki



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Canon Universe, Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Pining Akaashi Keiji, Third Year Bokuto Koutarou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:02:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23045230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuki/pseuds/yuuki
Summary: It’s Aka-ashi, Keiji wants to say every time Bokuto says his name wrong, not Ah-kashi. He never corrects him.It’s easier to study if you don’t talk and actually study, Keiji wants to tell Bokuto every time he fails a test. He never tells him.Everything Bokuto does makes Keiji fall in love with him, and there’s a lot that Keiji doesn’t tell him.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 28
Kudos: 558





	Red Reed

It all started because of Naruto. 

Okay, not really. Keiji just wanted something to blame. 

He had been watching Naruto Shippuden with his little sister. Truthfully, he wasn’t all that interested, and he had no idea what was going on. He was only semi paying attention to it because there was a white-haired character with a name similar to his own- Kakashi, Akaashi- and he had nothing better to do. 

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” asked his sister. 

“He’s a cartoon,” responded Keiji. 

His sister huffed at him. “Just because he’s a cartoon doesn’t mean he can’t be cute.” 

Keiji ignored her, because he didn’t see the appeal behind cartoon men. 

“I think he’s really cute,” his sister continued, as if Keiji wasn’t sporting the most disinterested expression he could manage. “Though, he’s always covering up so much of his skin. You never see anything. It’s when he finally shows a bit of skin you never see that you fall in love with him.” 

Keiji glanced at her, wondering why she was overanalyzing her love for a _drawing_ so much. 

He thought nothing of that interaction for the next few days. He went to class, studied, and practiced as usual. Everything was fine. 

It wasn’t until that afternoon at practice that Keiji finally understood what his sister meant. 

“Bokuto-san!” he called, tossing the ball up for Bokuto. He hit it easily, making Konoha grunt in frustration on the other side of the net. 

“Yeah, Akaashi!” Bokuto yelled, whirling around to fix Keiji with a wide grin. 

_It’s Aka-ashi,_ Keiji wanted to say, _not Ah-GASHI._

“Nice kill,” Keiji told him instead, slapping his hand in a high five. 

They did this seven more times. It was mostly practice for Konoha; he wanted to be able to retrieve balls spiked by one of the top aces in the nation. Keiji didn’t mind, though. He enjoyed watching Bokuto in action. It was one of his favorite things. 

Konoha was finally able to bump one of Bokuto’s spikes, but it was sent flying over the net again. 

“At least I got that!” Konoha cheered, though he bit his lip in annoyance as the ball came back towards Keiji. 

Keiji watched it. It was low, but he’d still be able to get it. He dived for the ball, narrowly avoiding landing on his face as he sent it back up. “Bokuto-san!” he yelled out, partly habit and partly because he wasn’t sure if Bokuto was even paying attention. 

Keiji propped himself up on his elbows as he watched Bokuto run up and jump at the ball. From the floor, all Keiji could see was the glare of the ceiling lights as he looked up at Bokuto. His form was even more attention catching from this angle. His silhouette stood out starkly against the lights, and the lights made his outline glow. 

Keiji could see everything, and it was… _amazing._

Then Keiji made the mistake of allowing his eyes to drift lower. From this angle he was able to clearly see the way Bokuto’s shorts stretched over his thighs and bunched up because of the strain, and he could see the space where the compression sleeves Bokuto wore on his thighs ended and skin began. 

He could see Bokuto’s thighs. 

His sister’s words suddenly rang through his head, and Keiji watched with wide eyes as Bokuto hit the ball and landed back on his feet. He turned to give Keiji a smile, looking confused when he saw him lying on the floor. 

“Akaashi?” he asked, coming over. He offered his hand to Keiji, who tentatively took it so he wouldn’t seem like something was off. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“I got distracted,” Keiji told him honestly. He was glad he had put a clamp on outwardly showing his emotions long ago, because internally he felt like all his cells were screaming. It was only then that he realized he was still holding Bokuto’s hand, and he snatched his own hand away before the fire on his skin could spread further. 

“Oh,” Bokuto said with a confused smile. “All right, then. Give me another toss!”

Keiji gave him a bow. “I’m sorry, Bokuto-san, but I’m afraid I can’t. I have to get home to study.”

It wasn’t a whole lie, at least. Keiji did have to study, but there wasn’t a whole lot he had to study for. He just didn’t want to stay here with Bokuto anymore. He wanted to get home and freak out in peace. 

“Hmm, okay,” Bokuto pouted. “Tomorrow, then?”

Keiji gave him a tilt of his head that doubled as a nod before he left. He took a quick shower and changed back into his uniform before he undid the locks on his bike and went home. 

When he got there, his sister was sitting in the living room watching Naruto again. 

“Keiji!” she called, “how was practice?”

“Mind your business,” he said as he walked to his room, causing his sister to wail in indignation. He ignored his mother’s scolding for being rude and changed into his pajamas before he did his homework. It took a lot less time than expected, and he sighed and grabbed an issue of Shōnen Jump before settling down on his bed to read. 

It was kind of hard to focus on whatever manga he was reading, though, because his mind kept drifting back to Bokuto’s thighs. He didn’t know what he had gotten so flustered for. Keiji had always known that Bokuto had nice thighs. He could see it in the way the fabric of his shorts struggled not to tear around his muscle. He’d even seen that patch of skin before when Bokuto did his strange poses after a particularly satisfying spike. Hell, they’d even changed together in the locker rooms, but Keiji always made it a point to keep his eyes trained directly on his locker so he wouldn’t accidentally look at any of his teammates’ naked forms. 

Realizing that he wasn’t going to be able to get Bokuto out of his head for the rest of the night, Keiji put the Shōnen Jump away and settled down to sleep. 

———

Keiji glared at his ceiling when his alarm went off the next morning. 

His dreams had been filled with flashes of skin and hot hands, and now he was... frustrated, to say the least. 

He dragged himself out of bed and got dressed for practice. His school uniform was packed neatly in his bag, and it was so cold outside that the hair on his arms and legs stuck up and left him covered in goosebumps. 

By the time he got to school he already warmed up- biking all the way there was no easy feat, after all- and Bokuto was waiting for him. 

“Akaashi!” he greeted with a smile. If Keiji didn’t know better, he’d think that Bokuto only greeted him like this because he forgot his name. 

Keiji scowled, because Bokuto _did_ forget his name for the first month when Keiji was a first year. 

Bokuto tilted his head with a frown. “Something wrong, Akaashi? You look more… irritated than usual.”

“I’m fine,” Keiji said, too quick to make it seem like he was really fine. Luckily, Bokuto was never the best at picking up on things like that. It was a good thing Washio or Konoha weren't there; they’d have noticed. 

“Okay,” said Bokuto, dragging the word out longer than necessary. He stared up at the ceiling in thought before his gaze snapped back to Keiji with such a strange intensity that it made Keiji’s heart jump. “Give me a toss?”

“Okay,” Keiji answered, voice more breathless than he’d like. 

They practiced this for about thirty minutes before the rest of the team showed up. 

They did regular practice after that, and Keiji did his best to remain focused and not let his nerves or wandering gaze get the better of him. 

It worked for the rest of the morning practice and even through the brief bit of practice he and Bokuto squeezed in during lunch. Keiji made it easily through the rest of the day, keeping thoughts of Bokuto’s bare skin to a minimum. 

Then all hell broke loose in the afternoon practice. 

It was going fine at first. Everyone was nailing all their serves and spikes. 

It was perfect. 

And then Bokuto landed a spike wrong, slipping perfectly into center splits. 

This in itself was a problem, because Bokuto’s shorts were already short enough that they just bunched up at his hips and revealed wide patches of his bare thighs. The next problem was the sound of fabric ripping that echoed throughout the gym. 

The team stood in silence as they processed what just happened, and Bokuto’s face grew steadily redder as he realized what happened. 

Then Konoha burst into loud laughter. “Wah! Bokuto, you split your shorts!”

“I know, dammit!” Bokuto wailed. 

“Looks like you’re getting too big for them,” Komi said with a smirk. 

Bokuto glared at him and slowly picked himself up out of his splits. He didn’t bother trying to cover up the bits of him that were exposed, causing Konoha to erupt into another bout of laughter. 

_“Flamingo_ underwear?” he snorted. “What’s wrong with you?” 

Bokuto stuck his tongue out at Konoha as he walked to the storage room to grab an extra pair of practice shorts. 

Keiji was extremely grateful that he wasn’t quick to blush, because if he was, he’d be a hot, red mess. 

He remained distracted the rest of practice, only able to think about the way Bokuto’s thighs split the fabric of his shorts. 

Not to mention the way Bokuto had landed in perfect splits. 

Keiji pushed Bokuto’s thighs out of his head and continued on as normal. 

———

“Do you think Bokuto’s natural hair color is black or silver?” Konoha asked. He, Keiji, and Komi were the only ones in the locker room that morning. It was strange, because usually Sarukui or even Bokuto were the first ones there. 

“It’s definitely black,” responded Komi. “Who has naturally silver hair?”

“That one setter from Karasuno does,” Konoha pointed out. 

“That’s not natural,” said Komi. “You’ve seen those guys on Karasuno’s team. His hair is like that from the stress.” 

“Good point,” Konoha said, looking thoughtful. It annoyed Keiji that they put this much thought into something so trivial but yet couldn’t direct the same attention to their studies. “But, y’know, Bokuto’s eyelashes and eyebrows are silver too.”

“He could dye his eyebrows.” 

“You can’t dye eyelashes, though.”

“With how stupid Bokuto is, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“That’s really rude!” came a voice, and all three of them turned around to see Bokuto walk into the club room. 

Keiji regretted looking at him as soon as he did. Bokuto was wearing a hoodie and ripped jeans as opposed to his school uniform, and that itself was enough to make Keiji’s heart hum with affection. 

The thing that really did it, though, was the fact that Bokuto hadn’t styled his hair today. It remained limp around his face, falling into his eyes and around his ears in fluffy waves. 

Even Keiji couldn’t contain the blush that broke out across his face, and Konoha gave Keiji a sly grin when he noticed this. Keiji scowled at him and looked away. 

“Hey, Bokuto, what’s with the… this?” Komi asked, gesturing at his own hair. 

Bokuto gave a dejected sigh. “I woke up late and didn’t have time to do my hair. Why? Does it look bad?”

“No,” Konoha said. “It just makes you look a lot cuter than you actually are.”

Bokuto’s eyes went wide and his eyebrows flew into his hair as he smiled. “You think I’m cute?”

Konoha scoffed. “Hell no. That’s my point.”

Bokuto turned and pouted at the wall while Komi put his hands on Bokuto’s shoulders and jumped. 

“Hey, hey, Bokkun, what color is your hair naturally?”

Bokuto perked up a little and he turned his head to give Komi a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, is your hair naturally silver or black?”

“It’s naturally like this!”

Konoha and Komi erupted into startled gasps. 

“What!” Konoha said, grabbing a piece of Bokuto’s hair and lifting it up so he could examine it. “No way!”

Bokuto grinned and slapped Konoha’s hand away. “It’s true!”

“How’s that possible?” Keiji asked, finally contributing something towards their conversation for the first time since he arrived. 

Bokuto shrugged, keeping that grin on his face. “My dad has black hair while my mom’s hair was so fine it was pretty much white. That’s how, I guess.”

The others quickly moved on, and Keiji followed their lead as he changed and followed them into the gym. Practice was uneventful, not including the fact that Keiji couldn’t take his eyes off the way Bokuto’s hair fell into his eyes or the way Bokuto kept running a hand through it to keep it out of his face. 

Keiji was so fucked. 

That night when he got home after the afternoon practice, he stomped over to his sister in the living room. 

“Do you fall in love with cartoon men when they change their hairstyles?” 

She blinked at him, eyes wide and surprised. “What?”

“You said that you fell in love with the cartoon guy because he showed a bit of skin that he doesn’t usually show. Does this apply to him changing his hair too?” 

“You’re talkative today,” his sister responded. “Something on your mind?”

“None of your business,” Keiji said, and his sister stuck her tongue out at him. He scowled at the wall, grinding his teeth. If there was one thing he hated, it was opening up to his sister. “There’s this gu-girl,” he muttered at the wall, frustrated that he had slipped up and almost said ‘guy.’

“Guy or girl?” his sister repeated. “Which is it?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“No, you’re not. You just want to gloat.”

“Then why are you talking to me?”

Keiji frowned and left to his room, but not before his sister was able to call out, “you know, I think you should just tell him! Bokuto-san seems like he likes you, too!” 

Keiji buried his fiery face in his pillow and screamed. He hated his sister. 

———

Well, it kind of made sense. 

It made sense that Keiji was in love with Bokuto. 

He’d been enamored with him since the moment he first saw him all those years ago, and to Keiji, Bokuto was the best thing on earth. 

And, truth be told, Keiji always knew about the true nature of his feelings. He knew he was in love with his best friend, but he also knew it was a hopeless cause. 

He’d been denying it for so long thinking if he ignored it it would go away, but now that it was shoved in his face and there was no way to explain the gay away, Keiji was irritated. 

“Akaashi?” Bokuto said, tilting his head so he could make eye contact with Keiji. He reminded Keiji of an owl and that made Keiji’s heart hurt with fondness so he scowled and looked away. Bokuto frowned. “Did I do something to make you mad?” 

_Aka-ashi,_ Keiji wanted to say, _not Ah-kashi._ He didn’t say it. 

“No,” Keiji said instead, and he almost winced at how sharp his words sounded to his own ears. Bokuto visibly deflated, and it even seemed like his hair was wilting. Keiji bit his tongue and fiddled with his fingers. 

“Okay,” said Bokuto, sounding overly dejected. “You’d tell me if I did, right?”

“Of course, Bokuto-san,” Keiji responded. Bokuto hesitated before he nodded and went to find someone else to talk to, and Keiji let his head thump onto the table. 

The other day, his sister told him that she thought Bokuto liked him back. He knew this was false, because he had seen Bokuto interact with girls before. He knew Bokuto was straight because he had shown an interest in girls and never in guys. But on top of all that, even if he was miraculously bisexual, he didn’t like Keiji because then Keiji would have known by now. 

Bokuto wasn’t the type of person to keep secrets. He didn’t like to keep his feelings to himself; he was always very loud and vocal about whoever he was crushing on. Keiji had no doubt that Bokuto would’ve told Keiji by now if he had a crush on him. 

So, Keiji just had to squash his feelings down. Like a bug. 

He could handle this. He’d get through this. He was going to be fine. 

Keiji scowled once more for good measure before he growled into the table. 

——

He could not handle this. 

It had only been two months since Keiji discovered his feelings for Bokuto, and he was doing fine for a while. He practiced with Bokuto the same as usual, since they couldn’t afford to lose any practice with the spring tournament coming up. Keiji didn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize Bokuto’s last chance at winning nationals. 

He had been avoiding Bokuto outside of practice more often, though, to the point where he no longer let Bokuto come over to his house so they could study. The last time Keiji let it happen he was overcome with the overwhelming urge to kiss Bokuto, and he was only barely able to stop himself. He didn’t want to have a repeat of that. 

“Akaashi-kun,” came a deep voice behind him, and Keiji looked up from his book to see Washio. He was one of the few people other than his family and Kenma who could pronounce his name right. 

“Yes, Washio-san?” Keiji said, putting his book away to be polite. 

“I would advise you to fix the problem between you and Bokuto. I’m not sure what you’re fighting about, but it is weighing on him.” 

Keiji blinked, unaware that his avoidal of Bokuto had actually hurt his feelings. “We’re not fighting,” he told Washio. “Why do you think that?”

Washio gave Keiji a long and contemplative look, and Keiji resisted the urge to squirm in his seat under the scrutiny. Eventually Washio just sighed and stood up. “Very well,” he sighed. “Please just make amends or clarify you’re not angry with him.” 

Keiji’s heart twisted at the idea that he had been hurting Bokuto this entire time. 

He was a horrible friend. He’d been so selfish this entire time, only considering his own feelings. 

Keiji stood up and set off to find Bokuto, feeling guilty at the way he’d been treating his friend and wanting to apologize. They both had free hours at this time, and usually they spent it talking to each other or practicing. Lately, though, Keiji sat in the courtyard and Bokuto went with some of his other friends. 

It wasn’t difficult to find Bokuto. He and some other third years were playing with a basketball just outside, and Keiji stopped to watch them for a second. Unsurprisingly, Bokuto was good at basketball. He was good at nearly every sport. All his academic intelligence got exchanged for athleticism and enthusiasm. 

Bokuto was smiling at his friends, his sleeves rolled up. A bit of his hair was starting to come undone because of sweat, so a few strands fell into his eyes. 

Keiji sighed as he stared at him, eyes roaming all over Bokuto’s body. Bokuto wasn’t even that attractive. He was cute, sure, but he wasn’t _gorgeous._ He was more eye-catching because of his hair than his looks. 

It was like that _Doctor Who_ quote. The one that was something about meeting a beautiful person but once you talked to them their personality was that of bricks, and then meeting an average person with a beautiful personality and then their face becomes their personality. 

Keiji couldn’t remember the exact quote. But he understood the gist of it, and he understood what it meant. 

And Bokuto Koutarou was the most beautiful person Keiji had ever met. 

Keiji internally cringed at how poetic he was being and stuck his head out the door so he wouldn’t have to go all the way out. Since it was getting closer to winter the air had a bite, and Keiji didn’t have basketball to warm him up. 

“Psst, Bokuto-san,” he called, alerting the third years. Bokuto perked up as soon as he saw Keiji, making Keiji’s heart thrum with affection. He was so cute. 

Keiji bit his lip and looked away to hide his smile. 

“Ah-kashi!” Bokuto said, hurrying over. “Is something wrong?” 

Keiji gave Bokuto a fond smile. _It’s Aka-ashi,_ he wanted to say, _not Ah-kashi._ He wasn’t sure why it was so hard for everyone to say; it was just _red reed._ Two separate sounds. 

“No, Bokuto-san,” Keiji told him. “I just know that you have a math exam coming up and I was wondering if you’d like me to help you study.” 

Keiji didn’t know it was possible for Bokuto’s smile to grow bigger, but it did. “Really? Thank you, Akaashi!” 

Keiji gave him a nod. “Okay. We can go to my house after practice.”

Bokuto bounced on the balls of his feet. “What are you doing right now?” 

Keiji blinked. “Right now? Well, I was reading-“

“‘Kay. Wait here!” Bokuto said before he ran back to his friends to say goodbye and gather his things. He came back to Akaashi with a pleased smile, and Keiji tilted his head. 

“You'd be happier away from me, Bokuto-san,” Keiji said. “I’m just going to read. You’ll get bored.”

“I won’t!” Bokuto said. He grabbed at his bag, rummaging around inside until he found what he was looking for with a triumphant grin. “See!” he said, pulling out a book. It was _The Picture of Dorian Gray,_ a book Keiji had been reading a few weeks earlier. 

“You actually like this?” Keiji asked, tentatively reaching for the book to examine it before he gave it back. 

“Well, to be honest, I don’t really understand it. I’m not very good at English and this is such old English!” Bokuto said with a groan, his eyebrows scrunching up. “But you like it and you always listen to me talk about the things I like, so I figured I’d read it too!” 

Keiji didn’t know what to say. His heart was beating stupidly fast, and his face felt hot. He discreetly wiped his sweating palms on his jeans before he cleared his throat, hoping the bubbly mix of excitement and nerves in his belly would calm down. “Very well,” he said. “Come with me.” 

Bokuto happily followed Keiji to the courtyard like a puppy, and they found a spot in the grass to sit under the sun. They sat in silence for a while and read their respective books, though neither of them was getting very far. Bokuto was concentrating very hard on his book, hardly turning the page because of how long it took him to read. Keiji, on the other hand, hardly turned the page because he was too busy staring at Bokuto. 

“Are you cold, Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, looking up from his book to give Keiji an earnest glance. 

“No,” Keiji said, but it was a lie. “Why do you think that?” 

“You keep shivering,” Bokuto said, and Keiji sucked in a breath. He constantly forgot how strangely observant Bokuto could be despite his ADHD- or maybe because of it. 

“I’m fine, Bokuto-san. No need to worry about me.” 

Bokuto hummed before he draped his blazer around Keiji’s shoulders. “There,” he said with a grin. 

Keiji’s heart was going to explode. He was going to die at the age of twenty because of gay thoughts. “Thank you,” he said, attempting and failing at trying not to sink into the blazer and inhale Bokuto’s scent. Bokuto must have noticed this, because he gave Keiji a smug look. 

“Say, Akaashi!” Bokuto said, tapping his head before he pointed at Keiji. “You look cute in my jacket!”

Even Keiji couldn’t keep his cool façade at that. His mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide, and he’s pretty sure he went as red as his name. _“Bokuto-san,”_ he whined, _actually_ whined, as if this whole thing wasn’t already bad enough. 

Bokuto just cackled at Keiji’s distress. 

Keiji didn’t want to overthink the reaction and how that meant Bokuto probably knew about Keiji’s feelings, so he pushed the thoughts out of his head and decided to relish the fact that nothing between him and Bokuto had changed despite Akaashi neatly avoiding him for over two months. 

“Give me your book,” Keiji said, making grabby hands at the book. 

“Why?” Bokuto said, looking suspicious. 

“I’ll read it to you,” Keiji said, feeling silly. “If you have any questions you can ask me.”

Bokuto’s face nearly split in half from the force of his smile. “Really? Thanks, Akaashi!” he said, handing Keiji the book before laying down on his back. He scooted closer to him so his head was practically in Keiji’s lap. 

Keiji opened up to Bokuto’s last read page, ignoring the adoring gaze Bokuto sent his way. 

And Keiji couldn’t help but think that maybe his sister was right. 

With that in mind, Keiji let his hand slide through Bokuto’s hair as he read the book. 

———

They didn’t go to Keiji’s house often. 

Bokuto lived a lot closer, and when they decided to go to Keiji’s, they’d have to plan days ahead so Bokuto could bring his bike from his house. 

When they spontaneously decided to go to Keiji’s house like this, Keiji would drive while Bokuto stood on the pegs. 

It was exhilarating to feel the rush of cold air sting his cheeks, to hear Bokuto’s loud laughter, to feel Bokuto’s warmth against his back. 

Keiji didn't know why he ever denied himself this. 

“Bokuto-san,” Keiji said when they reached his house, panting from the effort of biking with Bokuto’s added weight. 

“Hmm?” Bokuto hummed, smiling at Keiji. His hair was a mess from the wind and the gel he used to style it had mostly lost its hold, so now it was a weird, messy mix of up and down. It was endearing, and Keiji reached over to fix it a little. 

“I’m sorry,” Keiji murmured, hand still in Bokuto’s hair. “For ignoring you. I wasn’t a good friend.” 

Bokuto gave Keiji a long look, and it was one of the few and rare times where Bokuto’s face was blank. Keiji didn’t like it. 

“I forgive you,” Bokuto said, and Keiji sighed. “Y’know, I was upset when you started avoiding me! You’re my best friend and you said you’d tell me if I did something wrong!”

Keiji let his hand drop back at his side, feeling his heart twist. “I know. I’m sorry. It wasn’t anything you did, it was me.”

“That sounds like some shitty excuse you’d give me if you’re breaking up with me,” Bokuto said, but there was a smile on his face. 

Keiji can’t fathom the idea of dating Bokuto and wanting to break up with him. “It’s not,” he said, hoping his face doesn’t betray his inner feelings. 

Bokuto reached for Keiji’s hand, fiddling with his fingers. Keiji let him, loving the feeling of Bokuto’s warm and calloused hands in his and the way it made flowers blossom in his chest. 

“Y’know,” Bokuto said, voice strangely quiet for a man who was always so loud, “I really like you, Akaashi.”

And he said it like _Aka-ashi,_ not _Ah-kashi,_ or _Ah-GASHI,_ or _AAHGAHSHI._

Keiji couldn’t breathe, and he snatched his hand away from Bokuto’s. Everything was overwhelming, and all he could hear was the rushing of blood in his ears. Even his eyesight seemed to be thrumming with his heartbeat. 

“I-“ Keiji barely managed to choke out before he sat on the bench outside of his house. 

“I’m sorry!” Bokuto said, sounding panicked. “I didn’t know you’d react like this!” 

Keiji fiddled with his fingers, trying to bring himself back down to earth. He went through four lists in his head of things that made him happy, and eventually his breathing slowed down. 

“Are you okay, Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, kneeling in front of Akaashi. When he noticed that Keiji was, in fact, not okay, he threw his arms up and his eyes went wide. “I’m sorry!” he apologized again, “I didn’t mean to make you upset! I’m sorry, Akaashi! Forget I said anything! We’re just friends!” 

Keiji took a deep breath and grabbed Bokuto’s hand out of the air, hoping it would help calm him down. Bokuto looked back at Keiji, his eyebrows scrunched up in a way that betrayed his worry. 

“Koutarou,” Keiji said, feeling silly at using Bokuto’s first name. At the same time, though, it felt _right._ “Can I kiss you?” 

The change in Bokuto’s expression was instantaneous. His eyebrows flew up and his lips morphed from a bitten frown to a wide smile, and a deep blush flooded his cheeks. 

Bokuto leaned in and put his hands on either side of Keiji’s face, and Keiji let his eyes shut, expecting a kiss. When it didn’t come, Keiji opened his eyes to see Bokuto gazing at him in wonder. His eyes were flicking all over Keiji’s face in a way that embarrassed him, but Keiji didn’t tell him to stop. He felt the rough skin of Bokuto’s hands against his cheeks, felt the way his calloused thumbs rubbed the edges of his eyes. 

And the look in Bokuto’s eyes made Keiji feel like everything was finally as it should be, as horribly sappy as that sounded. 

“Keiji,” Bokuto whispered as if he was savoring the feeling of Keiji’s first name on his tongue, “you are so pretty.” 

Then his lips were on Keiji’s, and Keiji didn’t realize how fast his heart had been beating before or how loud his thoughts were until it all went silent. 

Kissing Bokuto was nothing like Keiji expected. He expected Bokuto to be energetic and enthusiastic like he was playing volleyball, but he was patient and gentle and slow. 

Keiji let his hands grab the fabric of Bokuto’s shirt on his chest, and when his hands touched Bokuto’s chest, Keiji was able to feel the desperate pace Bokuto’s heart had picked up. 

For some reason, that was incredibly reassuring. To know Bokuto felt the same way Keiji did all this time. 

“Don’t think that because we’re dating now you can get out of studying for your math exam,” Keiji said once he pulled away, letting his head rest on Bokuto’s shoulder. 

Bokuto let out a loud groan. “Ah, Ah-kashi! C’mon! Be nice to your boyfriend!” 

Keiji smiled at the words “your boyfriend” and stood away from Bokuto. 

“Come on,” he said, offering his hand to Bokuto, who was still kneeling. “Let’s go inside.” 

Bokuto smiled at him and took his hand, threading their fingers together. 

He failed his math exam the next day, for lack of studying. 

**Author's Note:**

> the title for this comes from akaashis name and was just a filler title whoops. also the actual doctor who quote is “you know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful, and then you actually talk to them, and five minutes later they're dull as a brick. but then there's other people, and you meet them and you think 'not bad, they're okay', and then you get to know them, and their face sort of becomes them, like their personality's written all over it, and they just they turn into something so beautiful...”  
> anyway thank u for reading


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